“DROWNED'GOLD”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 6 December 1927, Page 8

“DROWNED'GOLD”

SEARCH BY SOVIET ATTEMPTING TO SALVAGE MILLIONS SUNKEN .SHIP IN BALACLAVA . BAY From'the depths of Balaclava fßa'y the other day there was brought to Hjjc.surface a gold coin. Its dato was tho year IG2I and it .boro the inscription of George IV. Here, many felt, was tangible 'evidence (hut the'rotting hulk of the British cruiser Black Prince, sunk m Hie great storm that swept over the' harbour when the Crimean War was in progress, still holds fast to its treasure of n half million pounds sterling. One more chapter was being added to the old, old talc of the quest for “drowned gold”—a- quest which goes on all over the world.. Sometimes lost treasure ships aro not found; sometimes, if found, it proves impossible to bring up their cargoes. , It took two years of submarine search for tile Soviet Government to discover the timbers of the Black Prince. Within three months from the time of commencing work the Japanese company to whjch the contract for salvaging had been let brought up its first coin. The treasure galleons of Spain that sank in the Carribean, the strongrooms of the majestic East Indiamen that perished many years ago, tho precious freight o? many an ill-fated liner of modern times, all have their seekers. Untold millions lie in the wrecks of argosies sunk by storm or war. Syndicate after syndicate has been formed to find them and every , appliance of the diver has been brought to play.

THE LUSITANIA’S TREASURE The Lusitania, victim of a German submarine, lies in 285 feet of water with £1,000,000 in her hold ; yet it is doubtful whether any attbmpt will be made to raise lier for years /to come. The working depth for divers, it is estimated, is limited t£> 300 feet at present, and tlie zone of peril commences at 100 feet. Even a prize of £1,000,000 might not he worth recovering in view of the expenditure entailed. The British Admiralty has already refused a number of offers /from Germans desirous of raising the Lusitania. They w,ere anxious 'to! prove their contention that she carried ammunition and was therefore a. vessel of war.

: One- of the greatest feats in tho salvaging' qf sunken treasure was the recovery of £7,000,000 from the Laurentic,- which was torpedoed in 1917 and saiik in ninety feet of water ,off the north coast of Ireland. Dredging proved too slow, and the crashing force of dynamite was applied to the plates of The! wreck. Every coin in the Strongroom; was recovered by divers.

More than £50,000,000 in bullion Has, it is estimated, been recovered from the wiamks of treasure ships by French and English syndicates, which sell shares in tlie venture to th.e public. The total of unrecovcred treasure, however, exceeds this sum many times over. Tlie locations; of many df these fortunes have been known for years, hut the treachery of the sea and the impossibility of working beyond a certain limit have prevented salvage. ■

BEATEN BY WINTER’S STORMS When the .steamship Merida Went down off the Virginia Capes in 1911 she had on board as passengers many Mexican notables who had left their country for political reasons. They were carrying with them jewels, cash and securi-; ties valued at millions. The crown jewels of the ill-fated Emperor .Maxi-i milian and the collection of rubies made by the Empress Charlotte are said to have sunk With tlie liner..An at-i tempt was made to salvage /the 'Merida’s treasure about two years ago, but the storms of winter came sweep-i ing down upon the salvage vessels and the quest, called off, was not renewed.’ Will the greatest prize of all—the .treasure of the Vigo Bay plate fleet—ever he recovered from Spanish waters? Far' down among the charred of the burned and shattered galleons’ lies the largest known lode of “drowned gold.” >Four millions in gold and silver ingots went to the bottom of The; bay amid tlie .flames of burning ships and the roar of costliest’ single blow Spain‘received in lan at-! tack on her. New World commerce.

For three years no plate fleet had sailed for home from the West when in 1702 the Vigo flotilla pift forth 'from' Cartagena, :Porto B.ello and Vera'Cruz, laden with the overdue bullion and! guarded by twenty-three French ships of war. British war vessels were out, combing iflie ’high seas for ‘this glitter- 1 ing argosy. "On reaching the coast of Spain, the galleons and their convoy) took refuge in Vjgo Bay, hut thati haven, although fortified by land and blocked by a great boom across the harbour, proved of no avail. The British! hurled grenadiers against the forts and! with the Dutch fleet as 'their allies! smashed through the boom and into, the bay. 1 In half an hour the treasure ships;, were ablaze. Flaming pitch flung from 1

ship io> ship created an inferno. Seeing that capture was inevitable, the Spanioh Admiral ordered the remaining galleons set on fire. One by one they disappeared under the water, where for more than two eoiPurics their booty lias been held safe.

THE SPANISH PLATE FLEET

There is also the treasure lost in .Navarino Boy, in the Mediterranean, a /hundred -years ago, when the Turkish .fleet hearing its loot from, Greece was met by ipcombincd French, English and Russian armada. {Only £20,009 of this £10,000,000 treasure .hos' been recovered to dote.. Not long ago the Greek Government called for salvaging bids for the treasure, which '.-is scattered among sixty'-three ships.